Frozen in Time

25th October 2011

Two years ago almost to the day a very special expedition to Snow Hill Island in Antarctica got an extra week thrown in, with no extra charge. It is easy to joke about it now but it was among the most stressful weeks of my life as 100 people were informed that they would neither get to the rookery they had forked out so much for, nor would they know when they were getting home.

On board the ice-breaker was the BBC Frozen Planet team, headed by veteran producer Mark Linfield. The $1m Arial camera was also with us, managed by Dave Baillie. These are big names in the world of wildlife filming as is the extraordinary fixer Jason. The expedition had a happy ending but frankly being on board with these three was a huge bonus and those lucky individuals will particularly enjoy the Emperor Penguin moments filmed during their expedition.

Trials of Life was the first really ground-breaking wildlife documentary. Five years ago Planet Earth raised the bar massively, who can forget the hunting snow leopard, P.N.G birds of paradise or the camp baboons and hunting dogs. Life on the plains and prairies has turned to life and death in the freezer. These inhospitable areas are particularly pertinent to Exodus. For almost ten years hundreds of people have travelled with us to the Antarctic and probably more than that to Spitsbergen where we are market leader. Fancy cruises with strict regimes and timetables are not for Exodus. Pioneering expeditions are which is why the BBC chose to be on board filming.

Millions will be seduced by the white continents once this series has run its course, sadly many will travel without the proper research and only touch the elusive polar grail. Those that travel with Exodus to the poles are never short-changed, so much so that our repeat booking rate is the envy of the industry.

By Exodus' Paul Goldstein